Electrical transmission system



E. MEITNER.

ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.

APPLlcATloN FILED 061:3, 1917.

1,391,652. PatentedSept. l20, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENTOH "Xf/EMER MHT/VER E. MEITNER. ELECTRICAL' TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.

APPLlATlON FILED OCT. 3| 1917. 1,391,652. PatentedSept. 20; 1921-.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. MEITNER.

ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 3. |917.

1 ,39 l 65 2 Patented Sept. 20, 1921..

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES Y'PATENT oFFlcE.

ELEMER MEITNER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO .THE` SCOPE COMPANY,OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORIL- A. CORPORATION 0F NEW' YORK.

ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM.

To all whom t mar/y concern: v

Be it known that I, ELEMER MEITNER, a subject of the King of Hungary,residing at 138 Montague street, Brooklyn, in the county of Kings andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inElectrical Transmission Systems, of which the following is aspecification.`

This invention relates to transmission mechanism, more particularly tostep-byste or impulse transmission systems.

n any 'system operating on the impulse or step-by-step principle it isimportant that the number of impulses transmitted per unit of time,which I term for the purposes of this application, the speed oftransmission, be kept within certain bounds. Furthermore any suddenchange in the speed of transmission should be avoided. vUnless theseprecautions'are taken the receiver is apt to drop out of step with thetransmitter and consequently the accuracy ofthe readings becomedisturbed.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide means for preventingthe transmitf ter speed from exceeding a certain predetermined value andfor preventing any sudden change in the speed lof transmission.

It is also important that the number of steps per cycle ofthe receiveror repeater be made as large as possible in order that the movement ofthe receiver be uniform and smooth and a maximum torque exerted. I$`have devised a system of transmission whereby, although using repeaterseach of n poles, 4 n steps per cycle are obtained.

0th pear scribed. Referring to the drawings which illustrate what I nowconsider thepreferred er projects and advantages will ap,-

forms of my invention.

Figure 1 1s a central sectlonal elevation of the transmitting mechanismshown ap.

plied on a periscope.

- Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

Figs. 3 and 4 are fragmentary detail views of certain of the parts shownin Figs. land 2. l

F ig. 5 is a detail elevation of one form of transmitter.

Fig. 6 is a detail central sectional elevation of the speed limitingmechanism.

as .the invention is hereinafter de-' Specification of Letters Patent.Patented Sept. 20. 1921. vApplication led October 3, 1917. Serial' No.194,466.

7 is a section on the line 7-7 of 1 e ig. 8 is an elevation o`f one formof recelver or repeating mechanism. t

Fig. 9 is a wiring preferred form of electrlcal connections. Fig. 10 isa central longitudinal section a. modified form of repeating device.Figs. 11 and 12 are diagrams used in explaining the operating of mysystem.

Referring to the drawings it will be seen thaty I have shown mytransmitting mechanlsm applied to a periscope but vit is obvious o nlnspection that it may be applied to any sighting device or may besimply operated by a manually operable member. The 'term sendinginstrument will therefore be used to designate the mechanism foroperating the transmitting mechanism.

The sending instrument or periscope 1 is adapted to be rotated by 2 andto drive the impulse transmitter deslgnated generally at 3 (Fig. 2). Inorder the. transmitter 3 when thesending instrument is given a jerk Iprovide, what may be termed, energy storing mechanism, in theconnections between the sending instrument l and the transmittingmechanism. This energy storing mechanism which may assume various forms,is shown in theform of a resilient lost rmotion device constructedsubstantially as follows.

The gear wheel 4 is driven bythe sending instrument 1, by means ofconnections hereinafter more specifically described, and meshes with agear wheel 5 rotatable on a shaft `6 journaled ina stationary frame 7 Agear wheel 8 frictionally engagedwvith gear 5, adjustable with respectthereto and meshing with gear 4 may be providedfto take up lost motionin the gears. The shaft 6 has secured thereto adjacent each of its endsa member 9,1() each of lwhich members may be made cup shaped so as toform part of a yhousing for the oppositely kwound springs 11, 12 andeach carries a lug-24, 25.

The spring 11 is secured at one end to mem- 'I l ber 9 and the spring12, at one end, to memdiagram illustrating a I SPERRY GYRO- means of ahandle 14 carry lugs 15 and 16 and are also shown as coperating withmembers 9, 10 to mclose completely wheel carries oppositely extendinglugs 17,

`18 each preferably provided with an adjustable screW"/l9, 20. `A gearWheel-23 may be secured to the 'memberlO and utilized to drive thetransmitting mechanlsm.

' The operation of the energy storing means as above described i'substantially as follows: Assume that the sending lnstrument l isrotated in such a direction as to rotate gear 5 in the direction of thearrow 21 in 1g. 3. VThe screw 19 engages lug 15 to dr1ve the latter andif the speed is uniformI the lug 24 follows directly behind lug 15.

If however an attempt is made suddenly to increase the speed the lug 24will lag behind lug 15, due to the resilient connection 11 and theinertia of the parts and will follow the latter at a smoothly increasingspeed until -it catches up to said lug 15. The action for shown in Figs.1 and 2 and more in detail in Fig. 6. A speed responsive device, such asa governor 29 is securedto a shaft 30 journaled in Vbase 26, of frame 7and in brackets 27 and 28 secured thereto.v The sliding sleeve 31 of thegovernor has secured thereto a friction disk 32 adapted to engage acooperating friction disk 34 adjusta I threaded post 35, secured to thelatter, and

'nuts 36. The shaft 30 is rotatably connected with gear wheel 23 throughgear train 37, 38 39` As soon as the speed of the gear wheel 23 (andconsequentlv of the transmittinf` mechanismf3) reaches the predeterminedvalue the disk 32 engages'disk 34 to prevent a furmeans comes intoaction, as previously described, to prevent the jerk from reaching thetransmitting mechanism. If the speed at which the sending instrument isoperated .tends to drivepthe transmitting mechanismat a speed above thepredetermined allowable speed the speed limiting device holds thesprings 11 and 12. The gear `means of screws 42.

l ly carried by the bracket 28 by means of a screw l gear 4 and the thespeed of the latter down and calls the energy storing means intooperation.

If my system is used in connectionwith a periscope, I prefer to sodesign the parts as to render it possible to apply the system toexisting periscopes. Furthermore I prefer to provide means whereby theperiscope may l be raised and lowered without deranging the system.

v To accomplish the above functions the gear 4 may be s lit as at 40 sothat it may be placed aroun the eriscope 1. The ends of the gear maythen be 1'oined by a plate 41 secured thereto in any suitable manner asby The said gear 4 is shown as rotatably mounted on a stationary ringl43 which is L-shaped in cross-section and provided at its bottom with adetachable annulus 44 to hold said gear in position. The annulus 44 isshown split at 45 so that it may be sprung around the periscope 1.

The ring 43 is made in two parts 43', 43 so that it may be readilypositioned around the periscope. The4 parts 43', 43 may be detachablysecured to each other, when in position, by means of pins 46 and one ofthe halves of the ring, 43 .isconnected integrally or otherwise, to apair of brackets 47 secured to fram'e'?.4 v

Thev driving connection between the geary 4 and periscope 1 may assumethe form of pin 48 adapted to engage in a hole 50 in gear 4'and carriedby a split clamp 49 on the periscope. The pin 48 is preferablyresiliently supported on clamp 49 (see Fig. 4) as by means of a spring51 passing at one end through pin 48 and secured at ,its other end tothe base 52 which is in turn secured to clamp 49. The upward movement ofthe pin 48 by the spring 51 may be limited by Lupsetting' the lower endthereof as at 53.

It' will be readily appreciated in view of the foregoing that myinvention may be applied with great facility tov existing periscopes andthe (periscope in connection with which it is use may be raised andlowered without deranging the system. .Thus suppose the parts are intheposition shown Fig. 1 and itis desired to-lower the periscope. Thelatter is simply dropped vertically, the' pin 48 leaving hole 50, thusbreaking the driving connection between periscope. The latter may thenbe rotated 1n azimuth without changing the Iposition of the transmittingmechanism. 'f it is desired to raise the periscope and restablish thedriving connection the perlscope is raised vertically and rotated in'azimuth until the pin 48 slips home in hole' 50. By virtue 4o. the .pin48 and hole 50 it is obvious Vthat the angular4 relationship existingbetween gear 4 and periscope 1 beforebreaking'the driving connectionmust be restablished before the driving connection can be restablishedor restored.

' 55 secured to base 26 of frame 7. The drum shaft 54 carries at itsupper end a pinion 56 adapted to be driven by gear wheel 23 through agear train 57, 58. An additional gear train 57', 58 may be providedbetween pinion 56 and gear 23 for the purpose of preventing lost motionbetween said last named elements, the gear 57 being loose on its shaftand connected thereto by a spring 100thereby causing said gear 57 totend to turn with respect to its shaft. The drum 54 is provided with aplurality of cams 60, 61, 62 which may be of any desired number and.which will be described more in detail hereinafter. Mounted on adownwardly eX-i tending portion of bracket are a plurality of springcontacts 63, 64, 65 (see Figs. 7 and 9,) equal in number to the numberof cams provided and preferably each provided at its free end with aroller 66 adapted to engage a corresponding cam. The contacts 63, 64 and65 are each adapted to engagea corresponding one of a series ofrelatively Xed contacts 67, 68, 69 carried by the bracket 55 andinsulated from each other and at their supporting ends from saidcontacts 63, 64, 65.

As stated previously the number of cams may be varied and so also theshape of each"cam and the angular relationship of the various cams maybe widely varied. Merely by way of illustration I have shown three camseach so shaped as to permit closure of the corresponding set of contacts63, 67; 64. 68; or 65, 69 as indicated in Fig. 11. rilhus contacts 63,67 are closed for 90", then open for 96o, then closedvagain for 90 and'open for the remaining 90 of the revollution. Contacts 64, 68 are shownas closing 60o behind contacts 63, 67 and contacts 65, 69, 60O behindcontacts 64, 68. By employing suitable electrical connectionsimpulsesdue to these closures may be sent to a receiving or repeatingdevice.

Various forms ofu electrical connections may be adopted of which oneform is shownin Fig. 9. The contacts 63, 64, 65 are each shown asconnected to a common return wire7 70, which is connected to a batteryor other source 76. The contacts 67 68,- 69 are each connected to acorresponding wire 71, 72, 73.

A step-by-step repeating instrument may be inserted between the freeterminal of source 7 Gand wi-res 71, 72 and 73 to receive or repeat theindication transmitted.

As, `with the particular number of transmitter cams and contactsillustrated, six

impulses per revolution of the transmitter are sent I employ afrepeating device of six poles although it is obvious that other`- typesofl repeaters thanv the one illustrated) may be used. Thisrepeatingdevice is shown (see Figs. 8 and 9) as a repeater motor 75 comprisingthree pairs 'of coils 81, 82 and 83 each mounted on a pole piece 84which pole pieces are secured to a yoke 85. An armature 86 is rotatablymounted with respect to the poles 84 and will assume a positiondepending on which coils are energized. y

The coils of each pair 81, 82, 83 are connected to each other and eachpair is con- 'nected at one end by a common return wire 87 to source 76and at the other end to a corresponding wire 71, 72 or 73.

Calling attention to Fig. 11 let us assume that contacts 63, 67 havejust closed. The coils 81 will then be energized and the armature 86will assume a position in line with these coils. 60o later contacts 64,68 close to energize coils 82, coils 81 remaining ener# gized. Thearmature now assumes a position between coils 81 and 82. 30 latercontacts 63, 67 open so that coils 82 are now alone energized. Thearmature now travels to a position in line with coils 82, etc. It willbe seen that with the arrangement illustrated the armature will traveltwelve steps per cycle- 1'. e., a number ofsteps per cycle equal to 2 nwhere n is the number of poles.

The armature 86 as pointed out above will Vlrepeat the movements ofthetransmitter so thatgit may be utilized to control or actuate otherindicator 88 is also step-by-step. The

accuracy of the reading or position indication is therefore dependent onthe number oi steps per cycle-z'. c by increasing the number of stepsper cycle the accuracy. of the reading may be enhanced. The number ofsteps per cycle of the indicator is dependent on two factors-2'. e. thespeed of `transmission and the number of steps per cycle in the repeatermotor, As has been previously pointed out the speed of transmissioncannot be raised above a certain amount or the instruments will drop outof step. It therefore becomes important to increase the number of stepsper cycle of the repeater motor.

It should be borne in mind that the transmitters may be driven by meansother than a periscope. Thus, as diagramatically indicated in Fig. 9,they may be driven by a telescope l1 rotatable about a horizontal axis.

I have disclosed two^forms of systems, in my companion applicationSerial Number A v61,480 filed Nov. 15, 1915, Patent Number 1,373,442,issued April 5, '1921 for increasing the number of steps per cycle tofour times the number of poles of each repeater motor employed. One ofthese systems is embodied in the present application and to this extentthe latter is a continuation of the priorvapplica'tion.

Viewed from a somewhat generic aspect the last mentioned featurecomprises em' ploying, instead of one repeater motor, a plurality ofrepeater motors so interconnected that at certain times the armature ofone holds back or exerts a torque on an armature of at least one of theother motors.

While any number of repeater motors of any number of poles may beutilized I have for the sake of simplicity illustrated but oneadditional repeater Vmotor 75 identical in construction to the repeater-motor 75,

similar parts being designated by the same and operated by the same camdrum 54.' I have shown the two sets of contacts spaced approximately 90(see Figs. land 11) although this angle may assume other values.

Assuming that the connections'are made as shown and the parts in theposition shown in Figs. 8 and 9 itwill be found that the radial line Ain Fig. 11 willl indicate the contacts closed at this time. Thuscontacts 63-67, 64;-68 and 65-69 are closed at this time to energizecoils 81, 82 and 83 causing the armature'86 to assume a posi-- tion inline with coils 81 and armature 86 to assume a position between coils 82and y83 as indicated in Fig. 8. It is clear that in this conditionneither of the armatures 86, 86 exerts 'a torque or pull on the'other.Now plotting angular positions of armature, 86 in Fig.v 12 the armature86 is in position A', which is parallel with the position-of armature'86in Fig. 8. Now assume that the transmittercam drum .54 moves through15-z'. e. contacts along .line B in Fig. 114 are established. It will benow closed (contacts 64K-68 having opened) t0 energize coils 81 and 83.Armature 86l now tends to maintain a position in line with coils 81 andarmature 86 a position in line with coils 83 which positions are 120apart. The armatures however are constrained, mechanically, to maintainan 'angular distance Vof 90 and vas a consequence the armature 86 willoccupy a position 15 from the line of coils .8l-z'. e., a positionindicated at B" in Fig. 12., By assuming additional successive angularmoveyments of 15 by the transmitter, such as C,

D, E, etc., it will be found that the armature 86 will occupycorresponding positions C', D', E', etc., giving twenty-four steps percyclei. e. double the number of steps possible when using one repeatermotor alone. Positions A', B', etc., of Fig. 12 are parallel with therespective positions occupied by armature 86 of repeater motor 7 5 withcoils 81, 82, and 83 positioned as shown in Fig. ,8., Thus, position A',as has been previously pointed out, is parallel 4withcoils 81 of Fig. 8,and positions- B', C', etc., are parallel to successive positions of thelarinature of mowith respect to the arrangement of coils of i 8. spreviously stated the particular-design and angular relationship ofparts set forth above is merely for purpose of illus- -tor 75 as itmoves through lone revolution tration and is susceptiblel of variousmodiv fications. The important feature of the double transmission ystemas herein disclosed is that one repeating device exerts a torque on theother at periodic intervals. So as to increase the number of steps percycle. vThe armatures .of the repeaters instead ofy being interconnectedby gearing may be mounted ony the same shaft. Thus in Fig; 10 the.armatures 186, 186 are mounted on a vcommon shaft. Furthermore, insteadof placing'the armatures at an angle to each other they may be placed insimilar positions and the field poles of the repeaters offset withrelation to each other.- Such an arrangement isv illustrated in Fig. 1 0in which' the armatures 186, 186 are in line and the field poles 184staggered with relation to the poles 184. Fig. 10 also illustrates thatthe eld poles of the repeater may be mounted in a common frame.

It will be clear from the foregoing disclosure that I have providedv astep-by-step transmission which is accurate and reliable in operation,in that jthe instruments will not drop out of step regardless ofthespeed of operation vof the sending instrument and the number of stepsper cycle is greatly increased over the number ossible with 'a vsinglerepeater or a plurallty of repeaters modification may be embodied in theothers `without interfering with the moregeneral results outlined, andthe invention extends to such use.- i y Having described my invention,what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In combination, asighting instrument,

Aimpulse transmitting mechanism connected to said instrument, means fordisconnecting said instrument from said mechanism and .means forpreventing restoration of said l nected to said mechanism, and means,in-

cluding anotherV step-by-step repeating device connected to said firstmentioned device, for increasing the numberl of steps per revolution ofsaid first nentioned device.

3. `In combination, impulse transmitting mechanism, a plurality ofstep-by-step repeating devices connected to said transmitting mechanismand means connecting said repeating devices whereby the Iiumber of'steps per revolution-0f 'said repeating devices exceeds that of any oneof said repeatling devices when operating alone.

4. In combination, impulse transmitting mechanism, a plurality ofstep-by-step repeating devices each connected to said transmittingmechanism and means connecting` said devices for causing at least one ofsaid i devices to cause atleast one other of said devices to execute anumber of steps per revolution exceeding the normal number of stepsrofthe latter when acting alone.

5. In combination, impulse transmitting mechanism, al plurality ofstep-by-step repeating mechanisms, connections' between said repeatingmechanisms, and between said y repeating r mechanisms and transmittingiers' mechanism, for 'causing one of said repeat- .ing mechanisms; tomove another of said repeating mechanisms inl opposition to the torqueof the latter. i

- 6`.In an electrical impulse'transmission system, a cam, a plurality ofrelatively fixed angularlyfspac'ed electrical contactsactuattransmission mechanism and means for rais ing and lowering saidperiscope' with respect to said transmission mechanism.

able by said cam, and a plurality of repeat-. ing devices each connectedto a corresponding one of said contacts, said repeating devices beingalso connected to each other so that one may exert a torque on theother.

7. In y`an electrical impulse transmission system, a cam, a plurality ofrelatively fixed, angularly s aced electrical contacts actuatable by saicam and a plurality of repeating devices each connected to acorresponding one of said contacts.

8. In combination, a periscope, impulse transmission mechanism, meanscomprising i a clutch connecting said periscope and 9. In combination, asending instrument, electrical impulse transmitting mechanismoperatively connected thereto, means for preventing the speed ,of saidmechanism from exceeding a predetermined amount regardless of the speedofmovement of said instrument, an indicating instrument, a step-by-steprepeating de'vice connected to said instrument, electrical connections'between said mechanism and device and means comprising a repeatingdevice connected to said first mentioned repeating device for increasingvthe number of steps per revolution thereof.

10. In combination', a pair of resiliently connected relativelyrotatable elements, a secondpair of' resiliently connected relativelyrotatable elements, a sending instrument for actuating one of theelements of each pair and an impulse transmitter operatively connectedto both of the remaining elements.

l1. In combination, a pair of resiliently connected relatively rotatableelements, a second pair of ,resiliently connected relatively rotatableelements, a sending instrument for actuating one of the elements of eachpair, an impulse transmitter operatively\ connected to both of theremaining elements, and speed limiting means connected to saidtransmitter. v

12. In combination, a step-by-step repeating device comprising amulti-pole stator element and a rotor element, a second step- 'by-steprepeating device comprising a multipole stator element and a rotorelement, at least one of the elements of said second device being offsetwith respect to the corresponding element of said first device, andmeans connecting the rotors of said devices whereby actuation of onecauses actuation of the'other.

13. In a transmission device, a rotatablepart, a plurality of separateshock absorbing devices actuated thereby, each of said devicescomprising aplurality-of elements resiliently interconnected, and avtransmitter connected to said devices, one of said depart, a pluralityof separate shock absorbing devices actuated thereby, each of saiddevices comprising a pluralityof stop elements resilientlyinterconnected, and a transmitter connected to said devices, one ofsaid-devices being adapted to actuate said transmitter in one directionand another of said devices being adapted to actuate said transmitter inanother direction.

15. In combination, a plurality of step-bystep repeating devices eachcomprising a rov tor and a stator having a`plurality o? pairs of poles,and means for causing said rotors lperiodically and asynchronously tomove each other.

16. In combination, a stepbystep`repeat ing device comprising a rotorelement and a stator element havin a plurality of pairs of poles, asecond stepy-step repeating device comprising a rotor element-and astator element having a plurality of pairs of poles, at least one of theelements of said second device being o'set with respect to thecorresponding element of said first device, and means connecting therotors of' said devices whereby actuation of one causes actuation of theother.

In testimmony Whereoi I have affixed my signature.

ELEMER MEITNER.

